Just Short of a Hurricane, Beryl Makes Landfall in Florida
29-May-12
Tropical Storm Beryl made landfall near Jacksonville Beach, FL, shortly after midnight Monday, May 28. The storm has dumped about 5 to 10 inches of rainfall in parts of northern Florida and southern Georgia. Local flooding and numerous power outages were reported in the impacted regions. The insured losses from this event are expected to be minimal.
Beryl is the first storm of the 2012 North Atlantic Hurricane season to make landfall in mainland US. Maximum sustained winds at landfall were 70 mph, just below the 74 mph threshold for being classified a hurricane.
Beryl's Landfall near Jacksonville Beach, Florida on May 28, 2012
At 11 am EST Monday, 11 hours after landfall, the storm’s center was still only 60 miles west of Jacksonville. Beryl weakened to a tropical depression with 35 mph maximum winds. Its slow movement has produced rainfall accumulations of 5 to 10 inches over southern Georgia and northern Florida, with some isolated maximum amounts to 15 inches. The rainfall is beneficial in some cases due to drought conditions in the region, while some areas have localized flooding. As Beryl moves to the northeast over the next several days, 3 to 6 inches of rainfall accumulations are possible in eastern South Carolina and eastern North Carolina.
Beryl's Potential Storm Track - May 29, 2012
Source: National Hurricane Center (NHC)
At 11 am EST Tuesday, May 29, Beryl had winds of 30 mph, and was located at latitude 31.5N, longitude 82.9W, 55 miles north-northeast of Valdosta, GA. Beryl is moving to the northeast at 5 mph, and should be near the South Carolina coast early Wednesday. As the center of Beryl tracks to the northeast along the coast of the Carolinas on Wednesday, it is forecast to re-intensify into a tropical storm before moving back out into the open Atlantic early Thursday.
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